Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic
“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
Meet your Training Director
Connie Shortes is your 2025 training director. Connie is a retired COO of a shared office space company based in Austin. She and her partner Chuck Linton are Class of 2021 graduates and property owners in Fayette county. The training helped them immensely with the important responsibilities of stewarding private land in a way that respects the native flora and fauna of our region. In addition, they formed lasting friendships with other trainees and chapter members. Now, they just want to do their very best for the land in our region. Connie is excited to welcome more partners in that project with the 2025 training class!
Texas Master Naturalist Curriculum
The Texas Master Naturalist curriculum is designed to introduce you to the many disciplines encompassed by the term “naturalist.” It provides a common base of knowledge that each person can build upon through further study and volunteer experience. Although all Texas Master Naturalist chapters use the same curriculum, each chapter customizes its training class to the specific ecoregion in which the chapter is located. For more details on the content of each chapter of the curriculum, click here.
Class Schedule
| Class # | Date | Time | Location | Topic | Chapter | Presenter | Hours |
| 1 | 1/11/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Welcome, Orientation, Introductions | Intro | Training Committee & Board Members | 5 |
| 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Historical Naturalists of Texas | 3 | Frank Michel (GLC member) | ||||
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Land Stewardship | 1 | Mark Brown (GLC member) | ||||
| 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Ecological Regions of Texas | 4 | Dr. Stacy Hines, Asst. Prof. and Extension Rangeland Habitat Mgmt. Specialist | ||||
| 2 | 1/18/2025 | 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Gideon Lincecum Chapter Meeting | |||
| 3 | 1/25/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Orientation (cont.) – Volunteer Management System | Chris Morrison (GLC Membership Director and Training Committee) | 5.5 | |
| 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Law, Ethics, and Regulations | 22 | Natasia Moore, Urban Wildlife Biologist | ||||
| 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Volunteer Opportunity Snapshot | Winedale Pollinator Habitat | |||||
| 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Climate & Texas Water Resources | 8 | Dr. B.J. Baule, TAMU, Regional Climatologist, Southern Regional Climate Center | ||||
| 4 | 1/27/2025 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Zoom | Tech Tools/Citizen Science | 24 | Lori Buffum (GLC Communications Director and Training Committee) | 2 |
| 7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Website Overview | Sheri Wilcox (GLC President) | |||||
| 5 | 2/1/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | San Felipe de Austin | Archaeology | 2 | Dr. Sarah Chesney, Archaeologist | 5.5 |
| 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Ornithology | 12 | Amber Leung, Houston Audubon Nature Programs Manager | ||||
| 6 | 2/15/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Educational Snapshots | Education Team | 5.5 | |
| 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Volunteer Opportunity Snapshots | WoBrazos, SCTPBA, Indian Creek, Adopt-a-Highway | |||||
| 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Mammalogy | 5 | Pamela R. Owen, Assoc Director at Texas Science & Natural History Museum | ||||
| 7 | 2/24/2025 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Herpetology | 19 | Paul Crump, TPWD | 2 |
| 8 | 3/8/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Austin County Agrilife | Soils | 12 | Garry Stevens, President, Wildlife Habitat Federation Texas | 5 |
| 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Granger Farm | Soils Field Trip | Garry Stevens, President, Wildlife Habitat Federation Texas | ||||
| 9 | 3/10/2025 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Rangeland Management | 7 | Dr. Stacy Hines, Asst. Prof. and Extension Rangeland Habitat Mgmt. Specialist | 2 |
| 10 | 3/15/2025 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Washington County Fairgrounds, Sales Facility | Chapter Meeting | |||
| 11 | 3/29/2025 | 10:00 a.m. – 11: 30 a.m. | Brenham Public Library | Riparian Ecosystems | 17 | Alexander Neal, Program Specialist, Texas Water Resources Institute | 5 |
| 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Quebe Farm | Riparian Field Trip | Charlotte von Rosenberg, GLC member | ||||
| 12 | 4/5/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Class presentations | 5.5 | ||
| 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Entomology | 10, 11 | Chris Helzer, Prairie Biologist | ||||
| 13 | 4/7/2025 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Volunteers as Teachers | 5, 7 | Craig Hensley, TPWD, Nature Tracker Biologist | 2 |
| 14 | 4/12/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Fayette County Library | Plants, Prairies | 16, 13 | Will Newman, Coordinating Wildlife Biologist | 5 |
| 12:30 p.m – 3:00 p.m. | Prairie Field Trip | Tim Siegmund, TPWD, Private Lands Program Leader | |||||
| 15 | 4/28/2025 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Geology | 7 | Dr. Carter Keairns, Head Petroleum Geologist, CSV Holdings | 2 |
| 16 | 5/3/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | TBD | Forest Ecology | 17 | Daniel Lewis (GLC member, Texas Forest Service (retired)) | 5 |
| 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Blue Willow Farm | Forest Walk | Daniel Lewis (GLC member, Texas Forest Service (retired)) | ||||
| 17 | 5/17/2025 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Graduation & Chapter Meeting |
Where do I find it on the website?
- Chapter leadership – Chapter leaders can be located on the website under Members Area, Contacts and Communications.
- County contacts – Links to the websites for each of the five counties served by our chapter can be located under Members Area, Contacts and Communications.
- Chapter volunteer projects – Descriptive information about each of our chapter’s approved volunteer projects can be located under Members Area, Volunteer & AT Opportunities, Approved Volunteer Projects. The project leader for each project is listed both on the individual project page and under Members Area, Contacts and Communications. To find volunteer opportunities by date, see the chapter Events Calendar.
- Chapter newsletters – The GLC Tidings is published six times a year in the even months. In the newsletter, you can read member profiles, updates on chapter volunteer projects, member observations, and more. The current and past newsletters can be located under What’s New, Chapter Newsletter – The GLC Tidings.
- Chapter minutes – Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors and meetings of the membership can be located under Members Area, Meeting Minutes.
- Governing documents – Our chapter by-laws and other governing documents can be located under Members Area, Documents & Forms
Class resources
Class #1 January 11, 2025 – Historical Texas Naturalists, Land Stewardship, Texas Ecoregions
Historical Master Naturalists
- Frontier Naturalists in Austin’s Colony (Part 1) (Part 2) – Frank Michel
- Historical Women Naturalists: Remembering Forgotten Pioneers – TMN Tuesday March 2022
Land Ethic/Land Stewardship
- Voices of the Wilderness – Aldo Leopold – YouTube video
- A Sand County Almanac – Aldo Leopold’s seminal work in which his essay “The Land Ethic” appears.
- 2023 Texas Leopold Conservation Award – Brown Ranch presentation video
- Land Stewardship Presentation – Mark Brown
- Land Stewardship and Reading the Land: Tools for Developing a Land Stewardship Ethic – TMN Tuesday November 2022 with Ricky Linex
- Land Stewardship – It Might Not Be What You Think – TMN Tuesday December 2023 with Steve Nelle
Texas Ecoregions
Class #3 January 25, 2025 – VMS
- VMS Instructions Video – Passcode: C^9Be!Ww
Class #4 January 22, 2025 – Chapter Communications, Website, iNaturalist, eBird, Merlin
- Chapter communications – TMN-GLC Chapter Communications
- iNaturalist/eBird
- Educational Snapshot – Bird Basics
Class #5 February 1, 2025 – Archeology, Ornithology
- Archeology
- San Felipe de Austin Historic Site – Our chapter hosts a nature walk at the historic site on the last Sunday of each month at 2:00 p.m. In addition, we host a nature station during school visits. Approximately 3,000 – 5,000 students visite the historic site each year.
- Ornithology
- Migration maps, forecasts, and overnight radar data: https://birdcast.info/
- 3 Billion Birds website with more information about our bird losses and what people can do to help: https://www.3billionbirds.org/
- Look up individual bird species and learn more: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/taxonomy/
- Browse recent bird sightings in various hotspots or log your own: https://ebird.org/region/US-TX
- Bird Food Pyramid
- Binocular Basics
Class presentations
| Date | Name | Topic |
| 4/5/2025 | Diana S. | Unlocking the Mysteries of Growing Native Herb in Our Gardens |
| 4/5/2025 | Louis S. | Exploring Field Guides – Traditional and Online |
| 4/5/2025 | Sam S. | Weeds |
| 4/5/2025 | Cheryl N. | Scorpions |
| 4/5/2025 | Patrick G. | Identifying Venomous Snakes in Our Area: Basic Tips and Fallacies |
| 4/5/2025 | Robyn H. | Owls |
| 4/5/2025 | Tabatha C. | Houston Toad |
| 4/5/2025 | Linda P. | Butterflies, with emphasis on monarchs |
| 4/5/2025 | Katie T. | Microplastics in Texas Soils and Waterways |
| 4/5/2025 | Kathleen G. | Foraging for Native Plants: Food and More |
| 5/17/2025 | Krystyna W. | Mycelium: Nature’s Underground Network for Healing the Land |
| 5/17/2025 | Jessie R. | Greening the Forgotten: Reclaiming Land with Trees and Love |
| 7/19/2025 | ||
| 7/19/2025 | ||
| 9/20/2025 | ||
| 9/20/2025 | ||
| 9/20/2025 | ||
| 11/15/2025 | ||
| 11/15/2025 | ||
| 11/15/2025 |
Example presentation: Mammoths in Texas